Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein)
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I move amendment No. 12:

In page 6, subsection (2), lines 19 and 20, to delete paragraph (e).

The Chairman is very kind to allow me to speak. The Minister of State may be aware that the Irish Penal Reform Trust has raised this issue. The Bill states that the case of a person with more than two convictions will not be considered. The Minister of State will know that in some cases a number of convictions are lumped together and considered as one. We hope to have this section deleted, thereby addressing the issue. The Minister of State must accept there are exceptional circumstances where a person has three or four convictions that were put together or intended to be considered at a future date. However, even if the person in question has served his or her debt to society, the Bill makes no allowance for that. I ask the Minister of State to agree to the deletion of the section. He may prefer to consider the issue on Report Stage. Where a number of convictions take place on a single ruling of a court, and in cases where the person concerned has served his or her time, we ask that in those exceptional circumstances allowance be given.